A rechargeable battery (22). Internal to the battery is a memory (34) that has data identifying specific charging steps, sequences, that should be executed in order to apply charging current to the battery and to test the charge state of the battery. The battery memory also includes a power required data field that indicates the power required to charge the battery.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A rechargeable battery pack comprising: a housing; at least one rechargeable cell disposed in said housing; a first set of terminals attached to said housing that are connected to said at least one rechargeable cell, wherein a charging current is applied to said at least one rechargeable cell through said first of terminals and current is drawn from said at least one rechargeable cell through said first set of terminals; a memory disposed in said housing, said memory having a power required data field containing data indicating the power required by said at least one rechargeable cell to charge said rechargeable cell and data indicating a sequence in which the charging current is applied to said at least one rechargeable cell based on the power available to charge said cell; and a second set of terminals attached to said housing and connected to said memory, wherein the data in said memory are read from said memory over said second set of terminals.
2. The rechargeable battery of claim 1 , wherein said memory further includes data indicating the number of times the charging current has been applied to said at least one rechargeable cell.
3. The rechargeable battery of claim 1 , wherein said memory further includes data upon which a processor external to said battery can determine whether or not, as part of a process of charging said at least one rechargeable cell, it is necessary to discharge said cell.
4. The rechargable battery of claim 1 , wherein said first set of terminals and said second set of terminals includes at least one common terminal.
5. A rechargeable battery, said battery having: a housing; at least one rechargeable cell disposed in said housing; a memory disposed in said housing, said memory including data for establishing a charging sequence for applying a charging current to said at least one rechargeable cell, the charging sequence data including data indicating the power required to charge said cell, the charging sequence data indicating the sequence in which charging current is applied to said at least one rechargeable cell based on the power available to charge said at least one rechargeable cell; and a plurality of terminals attached to said housing wherein said terminals are connected to said rechargeable cell so that the charging current can be applied to said cell and current can be drawn from said cell and said terminals are connected to said memory so that the charging sequence data in said memory can be read from said memory.
6. The rechargeable battery of claim 5 , wherein said memory further includes data indicating the number of times the charging current has been applied to said at least one rechargeable cell.
7. The rechargeable battery of claim 5 , wherein said charging sequence data in said memory indicates whether or not, as part of a process of charging said at least one rechargeable cell, it is necessary to discharge said cell.
8. The rechargeable battery of claim 5 wherein, said plurality of terminals includes at least one first terminal that is connected to said at least one rechargeable cell and at least one second terminal that is separate from said at least one first terminal that is connected to said memory.
9. A rechargeable battery, said battery having: a housing; at least one rechargeable cell disposed in said housing; a memory disposed in said housing, said memory including data for establishing a charging sequence for applying a charging current to said at least one rechargeable cell, the charging sequence data including: a first data field that contains data indicating if, as part of the charging of said at least one rechargeable cell, said rechargeable cell is subjected to a periodic discharging; a second data field that contains data indicating after how many chargings of said at least one rechargeable cell said rechargeable cell should be subjected to discharging; a third data field that contains data indicating, after how many chargings of said at least one rechargeable cell, said rechargeable cell must be subjected to a mandatory discharging; a fourth data field that contains data indicating the number of times said at least one rechargeable cell has been charged after a last discharging of said rechargeable cell; and a plurality of terminals attached to said housing wherein said terminals are connected to said rechargeable cell so that a charging current can be applied to said cell and current can be drawn from said cell and said terminals are connected to said memory so that the charging sequence data in said memory can be read from said memory and data indicating the number of times said rechargeable cell has been charged can be written to said fourth data field.
10. The rechargeable battery pack of claim 9 , wherein said memory further includes charging sequence data that indicate specific charging steps through which said at least one rechargeable cell is cycled in order to charge said cell.
11. The rechargeable battery pack of claim 9 , wherein said m emory further includes charging sequence data that indicate specific charging steps through which said at least one rechargeable cell is cycled in order to charge said cell based on the power available to charge said cell.
12. The rechargeable battery pack of claim 9 , wherein said plurality of terminals includes at least one first terminal that is connected to said at least one rechargeable cell and at least one second terminal that is separate from said at least one first terminal that is connected to said memory.
13. A rechargeable battery pack, said battery pack including: a housing; a plurality of terminals mounted to said housing; at least one rechargeable cell disposed in said housing and connected to at least one said terminal; and a memory disposed in said housing, said memory connected to said terminals and containing data for determining a sequence for applying a charging current to said at least one cell, the charging sequence data including: a first data field in which data are stored that indicates the number of times the charging current has been applied to said cell after the discharging of said cell; a second data field in which data are stored that indicates, after how many chargings of said cell, said cell should be subjected to an optional discharging prior to said charging of said cell; and a third data field in which data are stored that indicates, after how many chargings of said cell, said cell must be subjected to a mandatory discharging prior to said charging of said cell.
14. The rechargeable battery pack of claim 13 , wherein said memory further includes charging sequence data that indicate specific charging steps through which said at least one rechargeable cell is cycled in order to charge said cell.
15. The rechargeable battery pack of claim 13 , wherein said plurality of terminals includes at least one first terminal that is connected to said at least one rechargeable cell and at least one second terminal that is separate from said at least one first terminal that is connected to said battery.
16. The rechargeable battery pack of claim 13 , wherein said memory further includes charging sequence data that indicate specific charging steps through which said at least one rechargeable cell is cycled in order to charge said cell based on the power available to charge said cell.
17. A method of charging a battery, said method including the steps of: reading charging sequence control data from a memory internal to the battery, the charging sequence control data including discharge cycle decision data; applying a charging current to the battery; performing a discharge cycle evaluation on the battery to obtain battery discharge data; comparing the battery discharge data to the discharge cycle decision data; and based on said comparison, selectively connecting the battery to a load so as to discharge the battery and, after said discharging of said battery, applying a charging current to the battery.
18. The method of charging a battery of claim 17 , wherein: the discharge cycle decision data is data indicating the number of times the battery can be charged prior to a discharging; said discharge cycle evaluation step comprises determining the number of times the battery has been charged after the last said discharging of said battery so as to generate battery discharge data that indicates the number of times the battery has been charged after the last said discharging of said battery; in said comparison step, the number of times the battery has been charged after said last discharging step is compared to the number of times the battery can be charged prior to a discharging; and if said comparison step indicates that the battery, since the last said discharging has been charged more times than the number of times the battery can be discharged after a discharging, said discharging step is executed.
19. The method of charging a battery of claim 18 , further including the step of, after said charging of the battery, writing into the battery memory data indicating the number of times the battery has been charged.
20. The method of charging a battery of claim 17 , wherein said step of applying a charging current to the battery is performed prior to said steps of performing said discharge cycle evaluation, said comparison of the results of said discharge cycle evaluation and said selective discharging the battery based on said comparison.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
December 22, 2000
February 18, 2003
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